Not Even Jesus…

Do you know what a Prima Donna is? A PD is the principal female singer in an opera company, that’s the first definition. The second one needs a bit of caution, for it’s less attractive and most unflattering. Here it is:

“A temperamental person; a person who takes adulation and privileged treatment as a right and reacts with petulance to criticism or inconvenience.”

Was Jesus ever irritated and reactive towards someone for some trifling offense? To the contrary, Jesus grieved over people, even those who rejected him. From Luke 13:

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.”

In Luke 19, Jesus wept over Jerusalem.

“As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring your peace–but now it is hidden from your eyes.'”

Jerusalem and the Wailing Wall at Night

Jesus wanted only to wrap his divine arms around the city, to gather its people to his loving heart, and to grant them peace. But they were unwilling.

Even our Lord and King, the co-creator of the universe, didn’t always get what he wanted. What he wanted most was to save, to heal, and to bless. He yearned to serve, to give, and to help. But many rejected his gifts of grace, still, Jesus wasn’t a petulant Prima Donna

I’m writing today because of the pain and suffering of friends.They are hurting and wishing they could turn back time, change the past, and orchestrate a different future. Sounds great, but they can’t, and they know. Today, they don’t get what they want.

It’s comforting knowing that my Messiah coped with disappointment. Perhaps there is no heavier burden than wanting something for someone more than they want it for themselves, like Jesus and Jerusalem. How horrible would it be to watch a loved one die because they refused to take the cure you held in your hand? But that’s exactly what happened to Jesus every day of his life.

He didn’t always get everything he wanted. Not everything went his way and not everyone said yes.

You know what? It’s the same for me. So how do I respond? Prima Donna or Jesus? Shalom.